Fire-escape



- (No Model.)

R. J. DEARBORN FIRE ESCAPE.

Patented Feb. 6, 1883.

1;; yqv zz q M. (Z r l ,UNITED STATES- PATENT O FICE.

RICHARD J. DEAR-BORN, OE BOSTQN, MASSACHUSETTS.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,8C9, dated February 6; 1883. Y

A pplication filed July 10, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that T, RICHARD J. DEARBORN, of Boston, in the county ot' Suft'olk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Esca-pes,of which the following isaspecification and description.

The object of my invention is to provide a 'copvenient and effective device to be usetLto escape from any story of a building in case of fire therein, which may be operated or adjusted to the building for use from the ground or the building and I accomplishthis by the mechanism and means substantially as hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhieh- Figure 1 is a perspective view, representing one side of a buildlng having my invention applied thereto; and Fig. II is a sectional view of a portion of the flexible ladder, showingits construction. t

In the drawings, A represents the front of an ordinary building or house, "uponthe roof of which, above the cornice, is secured, by suit.- able bolts or other means, an iron bracket or davit, as 1 from which is pendent a pulley block as 2, and directly beneath this pulleyblock are firmly secured to the building two guide-hangers, as 8, having their outer ends curved upward and projecting outward beyond the line of the cornice ot' the building. This part of the apparatus may be made in a single piece secured to the building firmly, with its outer end forked, with the extreme outer ends curved upward, if desired.

A post, as 3, is secured firmly to the roof of the building, upon the upper end of which post is pivoted a bar, as 4, so as to swing or revolve in a horizontal plane; and a vertical hole is made in the end of this bar 4; or, instead thereof, a ring may be secured to that end of the bar.

A tube or pipe, as 10, may be secured in a vertical position against the side of the building, prel'eraby beneath that end of the bracket or davit l nearest the post 3, and the bracket above the pipe 10 may be provided with a ring or block, as' 7.

13 represents a flexible or folding ladder, which 1 construct of short pieces of pipe, as 15, through each of which extend two rods, as 16, each having its ends bent at nearly right angies to the pipe 15, and with an eye in the-extreme end of each rod and these rods, as 16, are all of substantially the same length.

Toconstruct the ladder, or to connect the rounds, the eyes of one of the rods 16 in one ot'the pipes are secured to the eyes of one of the rods in another pipe, and the eyes of the other rod in the last pipe to those. of one of the rods in anotherpipe, and so on until the desired number of pipes are connected to form a ladder of the desired length to reach from the top ot'the building to the ground, or a little longer, perhaps. When the ladder is constructed in this manner it maybe folded into lengths extending from the eyes, as 17, to the pipe 15 on either side, or in any multiple of this distance, and so be put into com venient form to be packed within a small box or compartment, as 14, made in the sidewalk beneath the pendent pulley-block, as 2, and near the wall of the building. 7

A cord, as 12, is passed over the pulley, as 2, pendent from the bracket 1, and is passed end, and for convenience of confining-the cord in the same position, and as a partial protec tion of the same from the weather, I pass the; other end of the cgrd downthrough the tube, as 10, secured to the side of the building, so that its end may protrude through the lower end of the tube.

passed through a ring, as 7, on the bracket 1, and thence down through the pipe 10,with its end also protrudingat thelowerend of the pipe.

The end round of the ladder 13 may have a ring attached thereto, and for convenience of keeping the cord 12 always taut and in position ready to be used 1 attach a weight to the hook at the end of, the cord, as 12,.and by a person standing on the ground and pulling the cord 12 down through the pipe 10 the weight may be raised to the top of the building, and then by pulling on the other cord, ll, the end 6 of the bar 4 will be pulled outward toward the bracket 1, and the opposite end, as. 5, of the bar will be moved away from the bracket and over the building, and by then slacking the cord 12 the weight may be allowed to drop upon the roof, and both cords-may be properly secured until wanted for use.

If a fire should occur in the building, a perdown through a hole or ring in the end 5 of the bar, as 4, and is provided with a hook at the t Another cord, as 11, is attached to the end, as 6', of the bar 4, and is r son on the ground may pull on the lower end of the cord 12, beneath the pipe 10, which will raise the weight 9 from the roof, and also draw it outward and then lower it to the ground, and then detach the weight from the hook, and opening the box, as 14, draw out the end of the ladder and attach it to the hook on the cord and raise the ladder until one of its rounds is higher than the hangers, as 8, which project out over the roof, and by then pulling down on the cord 11 the end, as 5, of the bar 4 will be moved in, drawing the upper round of the ladder inward and over the hangers, and by releasing the cord 12 this upper round of the ladder will drop upon the hangers, and will then be secure for any one to pass up and down upon the ladder.

If desired, the lower end of the ladder, after being thus secured in position, might be firmly held out from the building at any desired distance by persons on the ground while persons inexperienced in the use of ladders were passing down.

Instead of securing all the parts in detail to the roof of the building, the bracket, as 1, post, as 3, with its movable bar 4, and the hangers, as 8, may all be secured to a single carriage,

and the latter, provided with suitable rollers,

be made to slide toand fro along a track properly secured to the building, the carriage being properly secured to the track to sustain;

the weight of the ladder and what may be thereon. For example, at H in Fig. I, 20 represents a track, preferably of iron, and extending along the building above the cornice, and secured firmly thereto, or to the building; and 21 represents a carriage supported upon rolls adapted to move to and fro along the track, and provided with a finger, as 22, on each side,

which projects over and beneath the track to prevent the carriage from being pulled otf the track. The bracket or davit, as l, the guidehanger, as 8, and the post, as 3, with its swinging guide-bar, as 4, may all be secured to this carriage firmly, in the same or substantially the same relative position with each other as above described, and a cord or chain may be attached to one end of the carriageand ex tend over rolls or pulleys and down to the ground at one end of the building, and another cord be secured to the other end of the carriage and extend to the ground at the other end of the building, so that by drawing on 4 either one of said cords the carriage, with all the elevating and suspending apparatus secured thereto, may be moved along the top of the building to any desired point to draw the ;ing from any one of the windows in that series,

as well as by a person on the ground, with some one below to attach the ladder to the hook or. fastening on the end of the cord 12.

It is evident that instead of using the post, as 3, to which to pivot the horizontally-moving bar 4, the latter may be secured to-a pivot fixed in a branch or arm extending out from the bracket 1, so that the bar 4 may swing horizontally to bring its end 5 into position beneath the pendent pulley and be moved inward therefrom.

Having thus described my invention, what I claign as new is 1. In an improved fire-escape apparatus,"a bracket or davit secured at the top of a building, with a pulley or grooved roll pendent therefrom, a bar secured at the top of the building upon a fixed pivot to swing in a horizontal plane, so that one end thereof may be moved outward to a position nearly beneath said pendent pulley, a cord provided with a fastening at the end and extending through a ring or hole in this end of said bar, and extending over said pulley and down the side of the building, a cord secured to the other end of said swinging bar and down the side of the building, anda guide-hanger secured to the top of the building, whereby a ladder may be drawn upfrom the ground and suspended upon said hanger to extend vertically in close proximity to the building by operating the said cords either from the ground or from the windows of the building, substantially as described.

2. In an improved fire-escape apparatus, a flexible and folding metallic ladder consisting of a series of pipes or tubes, two rods extending through each tube, with both ends of each rod bent to extend at right angles to its tube, and with the ends of one of the rods of each tube linked or jointed to the ends of one of the rods of the next adjacent tube, combined substantially as described.

RICHARD J. DEARBORN. Witnesses NATHL. G. ELIOT, W. R. WILLIAMS.

ILO 

